Crash Landing
by Gayle
Summary: Dylan, Beka and Harper are stranded on a planet when the Maru is hit by an electrical storm and her engines are down.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer, I do not own any of the characters. They belong to the late Gene Roddenberry.   
  
Summary: This takes place very early in the first season, sometime after D Minus Zero. Hunt Valentine and Harper are caught in an electrical storm and have to fix the engines without the aid of the genius otherwise known as Seamus Harper.  
  
  
"Bless…" Beka held up a hand, stopping Dylan's courteous "Bless you." as Harper sneezed.  
  
"You'll want to hold that thought, he's not done."  
  
"But he's sneezed ten times already."  
  
"Your point? I have seen him do this non-stop for thirty minutes before, Rev told me that one time, when I was down on a planet forming a contract with a client, Harper sneezed for an hour. He had a nasty case of Chiktrilian Flu."  
  
"An hour?" Dylan looked incredulously at his engineer.  
  
"Um hum, then, twenty minutes later he was at it again."  
  
"Wow, poor kid. We should get him back to Andromeda as soon as possible. This doesn't sound very good."  
  
"Yeah, the only thing, that storm knocked out our engines and didn't leave us with much to sal…" Harper cut himself off as he broke into another violent fit.  
  
"What he means is, when we were hit by that electrical blast some of the wiring was zapped so badly that it was fried and killed our engines. We're dead for now."  
  
Harper got control of himself, "Right," he panted, "If you want me to fix them, I can but it'll take time. I'm gonna have to improvise. Or I can fix the homing device, that might be quicker."  
  
Dylan passed him a box of tissues the Beka kept on the Eureka Maru for him, "What do you mean fix the homing device? How is it broken?"  
  
"Funny you should ask."  
  
Beka was glaring at him, "Um, this is news to me, too, Seamus. The last time I flew my ship, the H D worked."  
  
"Well, I was gonna boost the power on it, but she's sensitive, not like Andromeda, and she shorted. As you can see, it wasn't… my… fault." His eyes fluttered shut and his nose twitched. Beka patted his shoulder as he began to sneeze again.  
  
Hunt pulled her aside, "What's going on with him?"  
  
"Well, it looks like another case Chiktrilian flu. I just can't stay mad at him when he's sick."  
  
"And that's another thing. I have never even heard of this disease, what is it, exactly?"  
  
"Chiktrilian flu is actually fairly common. A person with a low tolerance for germs, like Harper, can pick it up quite easily. Its first symptoms are sneezing uncontrollably, followed by moderate to high fever, aches, pains, dry cough, extreme fatigue, chills, congestion, headache and weakness." She listed the symptoms as if she were reading off a shopping list.  
  
"Sounds unpleasant. Is it fatal?" Dylan looked hard at her.  
  
"No, I've never heard of it being fatal, even for someone who's immune system is as patchy as Harper's."  
  
"It won't kill you, just annoy you to madness." Harper resurfaced from his tissues to join the conversation, "Even after all the rest of those oh-so-pleasant side effects stop, you still sneeze for days."  
  
"More like weeks." Beka chuckled as she ruffled his hair, which certainly did not need ruffling.  
  
"Yeah, well, it got better in a few days."  
  
Dylan interrupted them, "Look, deadly or not, we should try to get back to the ship. In the mean time, Harper, I want you to go lie down and get some rest. Drink a glass of water or do something else that won't wear you out. Beka, you come with me. We need to find something that we can try to fix the ship with."  
  
"With all due respect, Boss, I think that I'm the one who should be fixing those engines. I know how to repair them better than anyone, including, if you pardon my saying so, Beka. Besides, I am a genius and it would be a shame to waste me." A frown fluttered across his face and he began to sneeze again.  
  
Dylan smiled in spite of himself, "With all due respect to you, Mr. Harper, we need someone who won't be distracted every five minutes. No matter how ingenious he thinks he is."  
  
Harper made a rude gesture as a reply. Ignoring him, Hunt turned to his first officer, "Let's go."  
  
As Dylan and Beka prowled around the ship looking for any pieces that they might find useful, Dylan asked her questions. "So, how long does this flu thing last?"  
  
"Last time, it took him over a month to shake it. Not counting the weeks afterward that he spent sneezing. Rev and Trance cared for him while I was gone, but I never really liked having anyone but myself look after him. He and I have been through a lot together. More than either of us cares to remember. When I got back on board, Harper convinced Trance that since there is no cure for this, he could go back to his own room and wait it out, he said he would be more comfortable there." Beka stopped. She wasn't ready to share with Dylan, or anyone else for that matter, what a painful time it was for both of them. Only when they were alone did he tell her how much he was suffering, how badly his head ached, how hard it was to breath. She spent more time in his quarters than her own, soothing him, keeping him comfortable, letting him know that he wasn't alone. When Trance came in to check on him, he joked and put up a great front, Harper would only allow Beka to see how he was really feeling. That made her feel rather special. No, the flu wasn't lethal, but sure wasn't very much fun, either.   
  
Dylan interrupted her thoughts, "Wasn't he contagious?"  
  
Beka shook herself free from her memories, "Nah, it's Harper, remember? You so much as show him a picture of a virus, and he'll be feeling sick."  
  
Dylan shook his head, his new crew was shaping up to be quite the characters, "I see, anyway, will this do?" He held up some spare wire.  
  
"It may, we'll keep hold of it, anyway, along with this," she replied, pulling up a loose piece of sheet metal.  
  
As they made their way back to the engine room they heard Harper sounding as if he was going to cough up a lung. Beka ran to the cot he was lying on, "Harper, Seamus, What's wrong? Dylan, will you go get me a glass of water?" He turned and went to the makeshift kitchen, when they were alone she pressed a well practiced hand to his forehead, then helped into a more upright position "Ok, Harper, you have a really nice fever going for you there. Just try to breathe, slowly in and out, that's it." Her voice was soothing as she coached him, soon the coughing fit passed and he leaned his head tiredly against her shoulder. "There, that's better, isn't it Seamus?" He nodded.  
  
Dylan handed her the water, "We shouldn't leave him alone for too long. It seems to be making him worse. How's he doing, anyway?"  
  
He's exhausted. He didn't cough like that the last time he had this, at least not this early on in the illness."  
  
Harper groaned, "I'm gonna start sneezing again, Beka."  
  
She smiled in sympathy, "All right, Sweet… I'm mean, Harper." She corrected herself quickly, having been told not to call him "Sweetie," in front of any of the crew many times.  
  
He buried his face in a tissue, not acknowledging her slip up. He was too occupied.  
  
Beka straightened up, "I'm going to work on the homing device. I don't know what he did to it, but I sure do intend to find to find out."  
  
Dylan gave a quick nod, "Right, and I'll work on fixing the engines."  
  
"And I'll just lay here and sneeze my head off and hack up my guts. No, seriously, what can I do to help?" Harper looked imploringly at Beka, then Dylan and back again.  
  
Dylan felt badly for him, he could tell that he was feeling rather useless at the moment. "If you promise to just sit down and give me advice, you can tag along with me. I could use the help. But you have to wear a blanket and keep very warm."  
  
He rose up his hand, "Swear, cross my heart and all that."  
  
Beka looked skeptical, "If you feel any worse, I want you to come right back here and lay back down. I mean it Shorty; don't pull any fast ones on us. I know when you're lying, even if Dylan doesn't."  
  
He raised his hands defensively, "You got it, Boss." He turned to Dylan as she began to walk toward to homing device. "You have to humor her when she gets in these moods. She gets down right cranky when she hasn't had enough sleep. And that's all the time."  
  
"I heard that, Seamus Z. Harper. If you don't shut up you will find yourself eating wire or sheet metal or something equally unpleasant."   
  
Dylan laughed, the big sister, little brother relationship that they shared could be very comical at times. 


	2. Chapter two

Disclaimer: The crew of Andromeda belongs to Tribune Entertainment, I receive no money for this piece of fiction. It is strictly for entertainment.  
  
A/N Thank you all for the reviews, they are truly appreciated.  
  
  
  
Harper smiled to himself as he watched Dylan zap his hand again, "You're not being gentle enough with her. I told you before, she's sensitive, not like Rommie. She has to be coaxed, not ordered."  
  
Dylan looked at him in disbelief, "You talk about the Ships as if they are women. And what do you mean, Andromeda's not sensitive? She is over three hundred years old."  
  
"Yes, and she a High Guard War ship, and she was built by whole teams of engineers and professionals. The Maru, on the other hand…" pulling his blanket tighter around his shoulders, Harper deserted his perch and caressed the grid, "she needs a gentle touch. She needs her wiring to be just so, she's very delicate. Don't get me wrong; Rommie's gorgeous, but being a war ship, she can take a beating and come out the same, if not better on the other side."  
  
"Ok… um, Harper, I really hate to break up this love affair you seem to be having with this ship, but your sensitive sweetheart also has to get us off this planet." Harper broke into a violent fit of coughing while Dylan spoke. He took the smaller man by the shoulders and set him down on the crates and other pieces of debris that was being used as a seat. "Besides, you're sick and Beka will have my head if you get any worse. She will probably have yours, too. Just give me instructions from right here, and we'll both be just fine."  
  
"Whatever you say, you're the captain. Now, just ease that blue wire into the casing. That's it, nice and easy. Good girl, you know you want to give us a hand here, Baby."  
  
When he was finished, Dylan turned around to gape at his engineer. It had taken him a split second to realize that Harper had stopped talking to him and was now talking to the ship. That was another oddity about his crewmembers that he would have to get used to. One names her plants; another talks to ships as if they were in love. Pretty weird.  
  
"All right, Harper, now what? Harper?" Dylan twisted his body to face him. He had fallen asleep, his head lulled backward and slightly to the side, resting on his own shoulder. Dylan smiled and pulled the blanket more closely around him. Then he put his hand on Harper's forehead. He was warm. A sense of worry tugged at his heart, and he gathered the still, small form in his arms and took him back to his bed.  
  
Harper groaned when he felt himself being moved again. "Pease, just let me die, it would be a lot less painful."  
  
"Sorry, can't do that," Dylan told him, draping another quilt over him as he spoke, "Beka would kill me."  
  
"Fine, if you can't let me die with some sense of dignity, at least grab me those tissues, I think I'm gonna start sneezing again here pretty quick."  
  
The box landed on his stomach. Dylan and Harper looked over to the doorway that framed Beka, "I heard." She glanced at Dylan, "What happened to him?"  
  
They both jumped as Harper started sneezing explosively, "That happened. Actually, it was coughing, but you get the general idea. It was strange, really, one minute he was talking about how much in love with our ships he was, then the next, BAM! It hit him and he was out like a light. I tried to get him into bed without waking him, but I didn't quite make it."  
  
"Harper's a light sleeper. I'm surprised that you made it this far without waking him up. He must have been really tired or he would have woken when you first moved him."  
  
Dylan looked over at him, "He'll be fine, I'm sure. I really need to get those engines fixed."  
  
"Maybe I should have a look at them, she's my ship, after all. I know her quite well."  
  
"What about the homing device?"  
  
"Ask him, he's the one who fried it beyond all recognition" She glared at Harper, who was finishing up and blowing his nose rather loudly.  
  
"Look Beka," came the muffled reply. He pulled the tissue away from his face, "I did not 'fry it beyond all recognition'. That was because of the storm. I just tweaked it a little. And need I remind you that without me, there would be no H. D." He gave her his best, "no one really appreciates true brilliance" look then nestled under the covers and allowed himself to feel bad again.   
  
Beka felt guilty, as she always did when she got after him when he was sick. She knelt by his bed and pushed a renegade piece of slightly damp hair out of his eyes, "I'm sorry, Seamus. I know it wasn't your fault. I just get so frustrated and end up taking it out on the nearest person. Too often that's you."  
  
"Then remind me to stand farther away from you when you're frustrated. Take it out on Dylan." He murmured sleepily.  
  
"Hey you two, leave me strictly out of you squabbles."  
  
"What squabbles?" Harper quipped lightly as he drifted off.  
  
"He's gone now. He won't wake up for a while, I hope. Let's go have a look at those engines while he's still sleeping. I know how much he hates having anyone but him mess with them when he isn't supervising. He just about took my head off when I made some very minor repairs while he was sick with something or another. And the Maru is my ship."  
  
"I guess he feels that this is the only place where he is really understood and the only thing that he feels proud of. No one can fix a broken piece of machinery as well as Harper. And he knows it."  
  
"He's not really that cocky, you know. He just puts up this front so that no one can make fun of him or see how… I mean, he just wants to be obnoxious." She would not discuss Harper private fears with someone who hardly knew him. A feeling of inadequacy was what drove him to be so brilliant and what caused him to act so full of himself. She was thankful that only she and perhaps Rev seemed to understand this. They had never talked to him about it, they just let him continue to be Harper, and that little bit of knowledge was the only thing that prevented them from strangling or eating him at times.  
  
Beka inspected the engines, "Man, that storm did a number on us, didn't it?" She straightened up, hands on her hips. "Well, I'm no engineer, but I can try to get us off the ground. It'll take time, though. I sure could use some help."  
  
"I'm not an engineer, either, but between the two of us, we might be able to figure something out. I just need to try to remember my basic repair lessons."  
  
"Be serious, this isn't some High Guard ship. We can't fall back on what we learned in school, that just doesn't work here. We need to think like Harper."  
  
Dylan bit his tongue to keep from making a comment about what kind of thoughts Harper generally had. Now was neither the time nor the place. Besides, Beka hadn't been joking when she said that she would lash out at the nearest person when she was flustered. "How would we go about thinking like him?"   
  
She sighed, looking defeated, "I don't know. That's the bad thing about him. Aside from women and machines in general, no one knows what he's thinking. He's too odd and private about what's really going on in that head of his. Besides, I don't think it would do any good even if we did know what happens in his mind, he's too disorganized."  
  
Inwardly, Dylan agreed. He had seen him jump from one project to three more without even blinking. There never seemed to have any rhyme or reason to his actions. When he was tired of something he would just jump over to something else.  
  
"I hate to disturb him, but I think he's the only one who can fix this." 


	3. Chapter three

Disclaimer, I don't own it, I receive no money for writing this.  
  
A/N, Again, I would like to thank all of you for the reviews. They are very appreciated.  
  
  
  
Harper?" Beka shook his shoulder gently, "Harper, I need you to wake up now. Come on Kiddo."  
  
He moaned and rolled over again, "I'm tired, Beka."  
  
"I know, but we need you to fix the ship. Can you help us?"  
  
He looked up at her in disbelief, "But you said I could sleep. No, you told me to sleep. I'm really tired, Bek, and my head aches so badly that I can't see straight."  
  
"Seamus, I know you don't feel well. You know I wouldn't normally do this, but you're the only person who can fix the Maru." She turned to Dylan, "Can you give us a few?" He nodded and left the room without a word. "All right Sweetie, just tell me where you hurt."  
  
"I hurt just about everywhere. My back, my legs, my chest. Beka, it's killing me to breath right now. I'm so congested." He swiftly blinked back the tears that threatened to make an unwelcome appearance, "I just ache all over."  
  
She kissed his forehead, which felt hot to her lips, "I know you do. We can work on the ship tomorrow. Right now you just need to sleep."  
  
"Are you mad at me, Boss?" His eyes looked worried.  
  
"Oh Harper, of course not. How can I be mad at you? You never complain unless you really feel miserable. I'll go back and try to work on the homing device for now."  
  
"Beka… will you stay with me? At least until I go to sleep. I feel very sleepy right now, it shouldn't be long." He reached for his box of tissues and grabbed one. He started to sneeze again. "I'm…"   
  
"Don't try to talk while you're sneezing, Harper. That 's not possible. And don't apologize about it, either. You can't help it." She put her arm around his shoulders and helped him sit up. Rubbing his back in gentle circular motions, she waited out the fit. When he was finally done, he fairly collapsed in her arms.   
  
"Done… I'm just gonna shut my eyes for a sec."  
  
Beka held his hand until she felt it go limp and heard him snoring lightly. She then went out into the hall and joined Dylan, "I couldn't ask him to work on the engines when he's this sick. That would be cruel. He's asleep again. He asked me to let him."  
  
Dylan nodded, "yes, it would. How bad is it?"  
  
She gave him a wry smile, "The ship or Harper?"  
  
"Ship, I think. Well could be both though, technically, Harper's not an 'it'. How's the Maru holding up?"  
  
"Do you want me to tell you the truth, or do you want me to tell you that I can get her up and flying within the next couple of days?" She smacked her fist against the wall in frustration. "I don't know how he does it. It seems as if he just has to whisper sweetly at the ship and she's up. Oh well, I'll just have to try to do this the hard way." She snatched up a nanowelder and a pair of Harper's goggles, "I'm going to go work on getting the homing device up again."  
  
Dylan nodded and turned back to the engine, trying to make heads or tails out of it. "We need Harper." He muttered to himself as he puzzled over the bits and pieces that were coming out of the ship in a tangled mess.  
  
A dry, hacking cough startled him. "You rang?"  
  
"I was talking to myself, go lie back down."  
  
"Nah, I feel better, I just needed to sleep."  
  
"What, for ten minutes? You look like you just had a fist fight with Tyr, go to bed." Dylan turned back to the engine, knowing that Harper was still hovering.  
  
"Look, I don't need to sleep all that long, and you two really need the help. I aim to serve when one of my populace asks for my supreme intellect. What's going on?"  
  
"Harper, Beka could use some help on the homing device, go both… I mean, go help her."  
  
"Your wish is my command." He made his way to the part of the ship where Beka was working on the device. "Hey Boss."  
  
"Harper, what are you doing up? I thought you were too tired to give us a hand here."  
  
He shrugged, "I feel better now, that's all."  
  
"I hope you don't think that is going to work for me. I you look like…"  
  
"Crap, I know I know. Dylan told me."  
  
"He knows you're up and wandering around? Is he crazy, why didn't he send you back to bed? Wait a minute, don't tell me, you told him that you were feeling better, didn't you? And he believed you. He needs a lesson in knowing when he is being blatantly lied to by Seamus Harper, the universe's greatest liar."  
  
"Beka," he started to cough again.  
  
She put her arm around he and began to guide him back to his quarters. "Come on Seamus, you need your rest."  
  
Harper recovered himself. "Beka, I don't like being in there alone. It's sort of weird. And I hate hearing you guys working while I just lie there and be lazy."  
  
She pushed him down on his bed, "Let's get one thing straight, Harper. You are not being lazy, you never have been. You're sick. Anyone who can't see that is blind. I'm proud of you for trying to give us a hand, but we don't need you to kill yourself over it." She placed her hand on his forehead to gage how the fever had progressed, then moved it down to his flushed cheek.  
  
Harper sniffled a little as he nuzzled up against it. "Hey, Beka, if you don't mind sitting with the universe's greatest liar, I would love the company."  
  
"I really should…" Her voice trailed off as she looked down at the sick young man who's eyes seemed to plead with her. "Oh all right you little con-artist." She pulled up a chair beside the bed and sat down, "But only until you fall asleep. I do have work to do you know." She said teasingly.  
  
"Sure thing Beka. Um, can I talk to you, you know…"  
  
"Do you want to tell me how you're really feeling, Sweetheart?"  
  
"Ok, that something else you are SO not allowed to call me in front of the crew. But, yes, I do." He began to cough again, deep ones, not like the ones that he was used to experiencing when he had this. Beka patted his back very gently until he was done. "OW!!! That hurt." He wiped away the tears that were running down his face from coughing so hard. "See, it's things like that, Bek. I didn't cough that hard when I had this before. What if it's really bad? What if it can be deadly?"  
  
Beka took him in her arms and he buried his face in her shoulder. She noted his ever-rising temperature. He tried to pull away, but she held him fast, and as a result, he sneezed forcefully on her. Normally she would have pushed him off, but just then she didn't seem to care. She rubbed her hand up and down the back of his head as the fit continued, speaking soft, comforting nonsense words as she did so. When he was done, she gently pulled him away and handed him a tissue. "There, better?" He nodded, blew his nose and snuggled up to her again, trying to get warm, "Good, now I have done a lot of research on this, Harper. Believe it or not, I try to learn about whatever it is that you're sick with. Anyway, I have never, ever read about this killing anyone. It's just like any other case of the flu, you only wish it would kill you."  
  
Harper laughed shakily, "Right Boss, thanks. Um, do we have any more blankets? I am freezing."  
  
Beka looked worried, she already had the heat cranked up to uncomfortable levels, "Sure Harper, I'll go get you one. A light one, I don't want to overheat you." She went into her room and grabbed the first blanket that she saw, her Blankie for when she was a little girl. It was warm (but not too warm) and lightweight. As she took it back to Harper, she thought back to the times she and this blanket had had. It was the most comforting thing in the world. "Here you going, Sweetie." She put it over him and watched as he cuddled into the warmth.  
  
"Thanks again, Beka. Hey Bek, will you talk to me? Tell me a story or something, just…you know, something?"  
  
Her face grew soft, something to let know for sure that he wasn't alone. How many times had he asked her to talk to him when he was sick or hurt? Too many to count. His insecurities were so painfully apparent at those times. "Sure Shorty, I'll talk to you. Did I ever tell you about the time that Rev accidentally killed one of Trance's favorite plants?"  
  
"Boss, I was there, remember?"  
  
"You weren't there when she came into my room crying. If you tell her I told you, you might just wake up to find that you have no hair left. Anyway…"  
  
She told him lighthearted little stories like that until she could hear his congested snore once again. Then she stooped down, kissed his cheek and left the room very quietly. 


End file.
